Flexible polyurethane foams are widely known in the art, and are described, e.g. in "Polyurethanes: Chemistry and Technology," Saunders and Frisch, Part II, 1964, pages 1 through 191, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. As is known in the art, these flexible polyurethanes can be hydrophilic or hydrophobic depending upon the reactants used in the production thereof. Thus, e.g., hydrophilic flexible polyurethane foams have been produced by utilizing etheylene oxide/propylene oxide based polyethers in the production thereof. Although the incorporation of their so-called block polyethers imparts the desired hydrophilicity, their cost is relatively high.
Additionally, it is known to treat the surfaces of flexible polyurethane foams with a wide variety of materials in order to increase and/or impart hydrophilic properties. These treatments effectively reticulate the foam structure. Characteristic of these treatments are those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,171,280; 3,423,337; 3,423,338 (hydrolytic treatment); 3,025,200 (heat and compression); 3,149,000 (polyacrolein treatment); 3,753,756 (orthotoluidine treatment); 3,382,090 (reacting foam with acrylic-type monomers); and 3,249,465 (treatment with a variety of hydrophilic agents). Additionaly, reticulated foams may be produced by variation of the foam formulations itself (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,165,483; 3,178,300 and 3,210,300).
A wide variety of silicone surfactants are known in the art. Characteristic of these are so-called polyetherpolysiloxane blocked copolymers. Characteristics of these surfactants are those disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,471,465; 2,834,748; 3,233,986; 3,887,483; 3,686,254; 3,793,300; 3,867,420; 3,280,160; 3,272,762; Re. 27,541 (3,505,377); and 3,585,230.
Finally, it is known to treat elastomeric flexible polyurethane cellular structures with silicone oils of the following formula: ##STR1## WHEREIN R is an organic radical of relatively low molecular weight and x is a whole number. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,992,940, this treatment substantially eliminates internal tack which may be present due to incomplete cure of the freshly prepared elastomeric flexible cellular structure.